Origins:
Food Lion Feeds is Food Lion’s hunger-relief platform, launched in 2014 to address food insecurity in the towns and cities the neighborhood grocer serves. It operates across Food Lion’s 10-state operating area, connecting more than 1,100 stores with Feeding America®, 32 partner food banks and thousands of local feeding agencies. The year-round model combines food rescue; product, financial and equipment donations; grants that expand food bank and pantry capacity; disaster response; associate volunteerism; and four customer campaigns that make giving part of everyday shopping. Every Food Lion store also donates edible food that can no longer be sold to nearby feeding agencies, moving nutritious products – including produce, meat and dairy – from stores to neighbors in need, avoiding food waste. Food Lion Feeds directly advances Food Lion’s brand promise to nourish neighbors and help set them up for success in life, extending the company’s everyday role as a grocer into a caring community partner. At its inception, Food Lion Feeds set a goal to help provide 500 million meals by 2020, a milestone reached in May 2019. Building on that momentum, Food Lion Feeds committed to helping provide an additional 1 billion meals by 2025. In February 2025 – 10 months ahead of schedule -- Food Lion Feeds surpassed its goal to help provide 1.5 billion meals, representing the platform’s largest hunger-relief commitment to date. Now, Food Lion Feeds is expanding its impact with a new goal to help provide 3 billion meals by 2032.
Contribution:
Food Lion Feeds provides food, funding, equipment, disaster assistance and associate volunteer time, while customers, nonprofit partners and community organizations amplify its impact. Food Lion and the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation, its 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, strengthen this work through corporate matching commitments and grant funding. For example, during an interruption in federal benefits in November 2025, the company matched nearly $300,000 in customer donations dollar for dollar. Together with funding from the Foundation, the effort delivered $1.6 million to 32 food bank partners. Customer-supported retail campaigns generated more than 86 million meals through product purchases, checkout donations and transaction round-ups. Regional partnerships with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and North Carolina Campus Engagement extend support across college communities. National partnerships with Feeding America®, Meals on Wheels America®, Operation Homefront and Boys & Girls Clubs of America® further expand access to nutritious food for local families.
Objectives:
Food Lion Feeds is designed to:
• Reduce food insecurity and expand reliable access to nutritious food across Food Lion’s 10-state operating area.
• Meet immediate need through store food rescue, product and financial donations, customer campaigns, disaster response and volunteer-led distributions.
• Strengthen food banks and pantries with grants, refrigeration, equipment, renovations and support for mobile and fresh-food distribution.
• Make local hunger relief easy for customers, associates, vendors, colleges and community partners.
• Address root causes through nutrition education, culinary and job-skills training, teaching gardens and programs that build self-reliance.
• Track results through meal equivalents, pounds donated, volunteer hours, partner reach and campaign outcomes.
Impact:
Food Lion Feeds exceeded its meal donation goal in both timing and scale. The platform reached 1.5 billion meals in February 2025 and ended the year at more than 1.7 billion meals, exceeding the commitment by more than 13%. To celebrate the milestone, Food Lion Feeds launched its seven-stop Thanks-A-Billion tour, providing $20,000 grants to participating Feeding America® food bank partners and distributing fresh produce and groceries to more than 2,500 families. During The Great Pantry Makeover, associates completed capital improvements at 33 food pantries, bringing the total renovated since 2015 to more than 350. The year-end results reflect how deeply the program is rooted in Food Lion’s communities. Associates contributed 48,352 volunteer hours – about 63% more than in 2024. Customers helped generate more than 86 million meals through annual retail campaigns. Every Food Lion store participated in food rescue, donating more than 67 million pounds of edible food to nearby feeding agencies. Altogether, Food Lion Feeds helped provide 238 million meals in 2025. Behind every number is a neighbor who had one less difficult choice to make and a local feeding agency better equipped to serve with dignity and care.
Quote:
“When a family is working hard to make ends meet, putting food on the table shouldn’t have to be sacrificed. At Food Lion, we take action because we know our neighbors count on us. Through Food Lion Feeds, we work with our communities every day to make sure more families have the nourishment they need to thrive and to help shorten the lines at local feeding agencies .” Kristin Kroepfl, Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President, Food Lion
Support Statement:
Meals on Wheels America® reports that Food Lion Feeds has invested more than $1.3 million since 2022, supporting services for more than 23,500 older adults across Food Lion’s 10-state footprint. “Food Lion Feeds has demonstrated a deep commitment to nourishing its senior neighbors and addressing hunger.” Kristine Templin, Chief Development and Marketing Officer, Meals on Wheels America
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